Some Catalan verbs are learned with a weak pronoun as part of their dictionary form: adonar-se “to realize,” penedir-se “to regret,” queixar-se “to complain.” The pronoun changes with the subject—m'adono, t'adones, s'adona—but it does not mean “myself,” “yourself,” or “himself” in the ordinary reflexive sense.
This is one place where translating from English is especially unreliable. English usually uses a plain nonreflexive verb, while Catalan packages the event as a pronominal verb. Unless otherwise labeled, the forms below are neutral contemporary standard Catalan, with Central Catalan as the production baseline.
The pronoun belongs to the verb
In a true reflexive clause, the pronoun replaces an object that has the same referent as the subject: La Júlia renta la Júlia → La Júlia es renta “Júlia washes herself.” With an inherently pronominal verb, there is no comparable full object phrase behind the pronoun. In La Júlia es penedeix, es is neither “Júlia” nor “to Júlia”; it is a lexical part of penedir-se.
La Júlia es penedeix d'haver contestat tan de pressa.
Júlia regrets having replied so quickly.
No m'he adonat que el mòbil estava en silenci.
I didn't realize that my phone was on silent.
Els veïns es queixen del soroll cada cap de setmana.
The neighbors complain about the noise every weekend.
The matching person forms are not optional decoration:
| Subject | Present of adonar-se | Weak form |
|---|---|---|
| jo | m'adono | em / m' |
| tu | t'adones | et / t' |
| ell, ella, vostè | s'adona | es / s' |
| nosaltres | ens adonem | ens |
| vosaltres | us adoneu | us |
| ells, elles, vostès | s'adonen | es / s' |
The clitic must be coreferential with the subject: jo m', tu t', ella s', and so on. A strong form such as mi or si mateix cannot replace it. A mi m'adono is therefore impossible as a neutral way to say “I realize”; say m'adono.
Verbs that require the pronominal form
Common verbs with no ordinary nonpronominal counterpart in the same meaning include adonar-se “realize,” penedir-se “regret,” abstenir-se “abstain,” atrevir-se “dare,” and entossudir-se “become stubbornly determined.” There is no productive English rule that predicts the pronoun; this vocabulary has to be memorized.
No s'atreveix a demanar un altre dia de festa.
She doesn't dare ask for another day off.
Ens vam abstenir de votar perquè faltava informació.
We abstained from voting because information was missing.
Other verbs exist both with and without the pronoun, but the meaning or argument pattern changes. Compare recordar una data “remember a date” with recordar-se d'una data “remember a date,” or anar a la feina “go to work” with anar-se'n “leave/go away.” The two variants may overlap in English, but their Catalan grammar is different.
Recordo perfectament aquella conversa, però no em recordo de la data exacta.
I remember that conversation perfectly, but I don't remember the exact date.
La reunió encara no s'ha acabat, però jo me n'he d'anar.
The meeting isn't over yet, but I have to leave.
In anar-se'n, both pronouns are lexicalized: the person-marked element (me, te, se, ens, us) agrees with the subject, and en appears as n'/-ne/'n according to position. Do not analyze en here as a simple English object word.
A de-complement becomes en
Many pronominal verbs govern de: adonar-se de, penedir-se de, queixar-se de, recordar-se de, riure's de. If the de-complement is already recoverable, en replaces it. This is a real replacement derivation, separate from the lexical reflexive clitic:
La directora s'ha adonat de l'error. → La directora se n'ha adonat.
The director has realized the mistake. → The director has realized it.
The order is person-marked pronominal clitic + en: me'n, te'n, se'n, ens en, us en. Before a vowel-initial verb, the final en may face the verb: me n'he adonat, se n'ha penedit. English has no equivalent of en, but Catalan still requires it when the governed de-phrase is replaced.
—Encara es queixa del torn de nit? —Sí, se'n queixa cada vegada que en parlem.
Does he still complain about the night shift? —Yes, he complains about it every time we discuss it.
That dialogue has one unambiguous antecedent: both se'n queixa and en parlem retrieve del torn de nit. The first se belongs to queixar-se; en represents the complement headed by de.
Position, elision, and nonfinite hosts
Before an ordinary finite verb, the weak pronoun is preverbal: m'adono, no es queixa, se'n recorden. It follows no, not the other way around. Before a vowel or silent h, em, et, and es elide: m'atreveixo, t'has equivocat, s'ha penedit.
With an infinitive, gerund, or affirmative imperative, the pronoun attaches after the host:
Després d'equivocar-me de carrer dues vegades, he activat el navegador.
After taking the wrong street twice, I turned on the navigation app.
S'està queixant del fred des que hem sortit de casa.
He's been complaining about the cold since we left home.
Adona-te'n: ningú no t'està demanant que ho resolguis avui.
Realize it: nobody is asking you to solve it today.
In the progressive, s'està queixant places the clitic before the finite auxiliary; està queixant-se is also possible, with attachment to the gerund. With a de-complement replaced by en, both clitics remain together: se'n vol recordar / vol recordar-se'n. The general placement choices are developed on pronoun placement.
Regional and register notes
The person agreement and lexical requirement are common to the standards. (regional: Valencian and Balearic) full preverbal forms such as me, te, and se are more extensive in speech than in the Central baseline; (regional: Balearic, Northwestern, and Alguerese) forms with mos may occur for standard ens. These are coherent regional systems, not forms to mix at random inside a Central-standard sentence.
Pronominal verbs themselves range across registers. Adonar-se and queixar-se are neutral; abstenir-se is frequent in (formal) institutional language; cruspir-se “gobble up” is (informal). The clitic is required regardless of register.
Common Mistakes
1. Omitting the lexical pronoun because English has none.
❌ No he adonat que havien canviat l'hora.
Incorrect—the verb meaning 'realize' is adonar-se.
✅ No m'he adonat que havien canviat l'hora.
I didn't realize that they had changed the time.
2. Copying the Spanish expression darse cuenta.
❌ M'he donat compte de l'error massa tard.
Incorrect—this is a Spanish calque, not the standard Catalan expression.
✅ M'he adonat de l'error massa tard.
I realized the mistake too late.
3. Omitting or misordering en when a de-complement is replaced.
❌ Ja es recorda. / En se recorda.
Incorrect for 'He remembers it'—en is required and follows se.
✅ Ja se'n recorda.
He remembers it now.
4. Copying Spanish-style personal a with a direct object.
❌ M'he trobat a la directora al passadís.
Incorrect in the neutral standard pattern—the definite direct object does not take Spanish-style personal a here.
✅ M'he trobat la directora al passadís.
I ran into the director in the corridor.
5. Mixing full and elided forms.
❌ Es ha penedit i se ha disculpat.
Incorrect—es elides before vowel-initial ha.
✅ S'ha penedit i s'ha disculpat.
He has regretted it and apologized.
Key Takeaways
Treat -se as part of the lexical entry when a verb is inherently pronominal. Match the clitic to the subject, place it with the verb according to the usual weak-pronoun rules, and do not translate it as “self.” If the same verb also governs de, replacing that complement adds en: s'adona de l'error → se n'adona.
Related Topics
- Reflexive Weak PronounsA2 — Use em, et, es, ens, and us when an action returns to its subject, including body-care patterns and strong self-forms.
- En for De-ComplementsB1 — Use en to replace complements selected by de after verbs, adjectives, and nouns, while respecting focus and extraction limits.
- Combining En with Other PronounsB1 — Form and place me'n, te'n, se'n, ens en, us en, li'n, and els en while preserving the function encoded by en.
- Postverbal Pronouns with Infinitives, Gerunds, and ImperativesA2 — Attach weak pronouns after infinitives, gerunds, and affirmative imperatives with the correct full or reduced form.
- Pronoun Placement Across Verb FormsB1 — Place weak pronouns before finite verbs, after infinitives, gerunds, and affirmative imperatives, and correctly across verb phrases.
- Conjugation of adonar-seC1 — Complete conjugation and clitic syntax of adonar-se for realizing and noticing, including de-complements, en replacement, and compound forms.